Recipe: Baked sea bream with sautéed vegetables
Swiss chef Ralph Schelling shares a recipe inspired by Greek dish psari plaki.
Ingredients:
350g potatoes
1 red bell pepper (thickly sliced)
1 large red onion (cut into wedges)
3 garlic cloves (sliced)
2 tbsps dried oregano
4 tbsps olive oil
2 whole sea bream (Dorade)
4 bay leaves
50g pitted Kalamata olives
200g cherry tomatoes
Pinch of salt
Method:
1.
Preheat the oven to 200C.
2.
Cut the potatoes into approximately 5mm-thick slices and place them in a pot of salted boiling water. Parboil for 5 minutes, then drain well.
3.
Transfer to a large bowl and mix with red bell pepper, onion, garlic, oregano, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and seasoning. Toss well and spread in a single layer across the bottom of a large baking dish. Roast for 20 minutes.
4.
Meanwhile, score each sea bream’s skin 3-4 times on one side. Season the bellies with salt and pepper, then stuff 2 bay leaves into each.
5.
Remove the potatoes from the oven (if they stick, gently release them from the dish), sprinkle the olives over them and place the fish on top.
6.
Arrange the cherry tomatoes around the two sea bream and brush both with the remaining olive oil. Season the fish skin with salt and pepper. Return to the oven and roast for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown and the fish flesh is opaque and easily separates from the bones when tested with a knife-tip.
ralphschelling.com
For the best of Greece, pick up ‘Greece: The Monocle Handbook’, published by Thames & Hudson and available at monocle.com/shop
